Austin Aries recently had an interview with Sports Illustrated’s “Extra Mustard”. Aries spoke about wrestling topics and also promoted his book, Food Fight: My Plant-Powered Journey From The Bingo Halls To The Big Time. Here are some highlights from the interview:

His experience at WrestleMania 33:

“WrestleMania is the pinnacle. My music was the very first thing that hit that night, and there was an energy when I walked out there that was unlike anything I’ve ever walked out in front of. The enormity hit me, and it was a very special moment.”

Eye injury he suffered in a match against Shinsuke Nakamura:

“Nakamura didn’t kick me that hard, or at least not as hard as he kicked me other times. It just happened to catch me at the right spot, and I didn’t protect as I would have liked.

We’ll just add it to the list of sacrifices that anyone who has done this for a length of time has made, physically, with our bodies. We accept that because we love what we do. In some ways, it may be a blessing in disguise.

I don’t know where my path would have taken me had that not happened. I do know where it took me after it did – to go into commentary on 205 Live, then transition onto Raw, which led to my opportunity at WrestleMania and a great series of matches with Neville. If that came out of the broken eye hole, it’s a fair trade-off.”

Samoa Joe getting a shot at Brock Lesnar and the Universal Championship:

“Joe is a man who doesn’t fear Brock Lesnar. He has been doing this a long time, and he’s been in the ring with legends, main eventers, and Hall of Famers. Joe is a cool cat and a cool customer. I’m sure he’s preparing, but I don’t think he’s sweating it. I think he’s looking forward to it as much as I’m looking forward to watching.”